Across the nation

Saturday

The Portland Police Bureau has released an audio recording of the interview between a detective and the massage therapist who accused former Vice President Al Gore of groping her in 2006.

The woman spoke with Detective Molly Daul in January 2009 - two years after she canceled three appointments to meet with investigators.

During the interview, the massage therapist describes Gore as a "crazed sex poodle" as she details the moves he made during a late-night appointment at a downtown Portland hotel.

DAYTON, Ohio

A 5-year-old boy used a cell phone to call police Friday after someone fatally shot his mother, telling a dispatcher in a clear but scared voice she was dead and begging for someone to come and stay with him.

The boy called 911 shortly after 2 a.m. Friday, and police arriving at the scene soon afterward found the body of a woman who had been shot. The Montgomery County coroner's office identified the woman as Marquita Brown, 25. The boy told the dispatcher that was his mother's name.

"My momma is at home dead," he told the dispatcher when she answered the 911 call.

"Can you come here," the boy could be heard pleading to the dispatcher on the tape of the emergency call released Friday.

BRIEFLY ...

l CONCORD, N.H. - A woman who needed powered oxygen equipment to breathe died after she did not pay the power bill and a utility shut off her electricity, police said Friday. State officials were investigating whether any regulations were broken.

l WASHINGTON - Former Vice President Dick Cheney was admitted to the hospital Friday after experiencing discomfort, the latest health scare for the 69-year-old Republican leader who has a long history of heart disease. Cheney was expected to remain at George Washington University Hospital over the weekend, said spokesman Peter Long.

l PHOENIX - A restaurant owner who put lion burgers on the menu in honor of the World Cup has felt a roar of anger from outraged animal rights activists. Cameron Selogie, owner of the Il Vinaio restaurant in Mesa, served burgers made with African lion this week as a nod to the tournament in South Africa. Reservations sold out, with a waiting list 100 long.

l ASBURY PARK, N.J. - A New Jersey town that once was among the top seaside resorts on the East Coast is trying to keep abreast of vacationers' changing tastes. It's considering letting women go topless on one of its beaches.

l BABYLON, N.Y. - A busy beach day on New York's Long Island was interrupted by the crash landing of a small airplane. No one on the ground was injured in Friday's crash at Robert Moses State Park in Babylon, about 35 miles east of New York City.

l NEW LEXINGTON, Ohio - An Ohio store clerk's mistake when printing a Mega Millions lottery ticket has won her $250,000. Naomi Mauller forgot to add an extra game to a customer's lottery ticket Tuesday night so she printed a new ticket and bought the flubbed ticket for $2. Both her ticket and the new ticket were winners, bringing in a quarter million dollars for each ticketholder.

l PORTLAND, Ore. - The parents of a 7-year-old Portland boy who disappeared from his school three weeks ago voiced what sounded like fading hope Friday that one of the most intense investigations in Oregon history will find him alive.

l PHILADELPHIA - A suburban mother once arrested at Disney World after calling in a hoax abduction of her daughter has been ordered held in a $700,000 federal fraud case.

Compiled from wire reports

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